Sachin Pilot, baby face - that's the new dart hurled by the 42-year-old's former boss Ashok Gehlot today as he accused Mr Pilot of betrayal. "He was conspiring with the BJP for the last six months to bring down the government," Mr Gehlot said. "Nobody used to believe me when I talked of this conspiracy... Nobody knew that a person with such innocent face will do such a thing," he added. The Chief Minister also used "nikkama", salty for "useless" or "incompetent" to describe his rival.
Earlier today, Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued in the Rajasthan High Court that rebel Sachin Pilot and other rebel MLAs cannot go to court against disqualification notices before the Speaker takes a call on them. Mr Singhvi, representing Rajasthan Speaker CP Joshi, also challenged the rebels' argument that skipping two meetings did not mean they were quitting the party.
Meanwhile, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been served a notice by the Special Operations Group of the Rajasthan Police in an investigation into allegations of a conspiracy to pull down the Rajasthan government. Mr Shekhawat, a senior BJP leader, has denied the allegations.
On Sunday, a team of Rajasthan Police's Special Operation Group (SOG) -- which is investigating the allegations of horse-trading to bring down the Ashok Gehlot government -- again went to the resort in Haryana hosting rebel MLAs supporting Sachin Pilot, but returned empty-handed within 10 minutes as the hotel-management did not allow them to enter and asked them to come in the morning.
This was the second time in three days that the Rajasthan Police made a beeline for a resort where the MLAs are said to be staying. On Friday evening, they had to return empty-handed from the ITC Bharat Grand. Later, they said the Haryana Police did not cooperate with them.
The Special Operations Group of the Rajasthan Police is investigating the allegations of horse-trading to bring down the Ashok Gehlot government. The police said they had gone to get a voice sample of Bhanwar Lal Sharma on Friday. The Congress had alleged that the rebel MLA has been caught on tape discussing bribes from the BJP.
Sachin Pilot and 18 rebel MLAs supporting him have been staying at two resorts in Manesar since he openly rebelled against his party and was seen as a threat to the Ashok Gehlot government last week.
The Congress has stripped Mr Pilot of the posts he held within the party and the government, but there have been offers of rapprochement.